The Last Stronghold
by Dragon-Uprising
Summary: Have you ever wondered what lurks in the shadows deep under your feet? What kind of demons follow you, and torment you? Trust me, you don't want to know.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes: Well not really sure what to call this. I don't know if it's a story, or if it's just a one-shot. I just needed to write and I really couldn't write anything else. So, I would like some feedback. Hope you guys enjoy.**

Watching the morning sun rise was always her favorite part of the day, it would make her smile, and in turn make me smile. Her happiness was my happiness, her sadness my sadness, and her excitement my excitement. Imagine her excitement when our first hatchling hatched, or when our young child learned his first words, or how to fly? Also, imagine her sadness when that same child was taken away from her. Ripped out of her arms, torn apart by monsters we could never imagine. Now, she's gone, and is nothing but a scattered memory, waiting to be blown away from my mind. Away from the horrible world which I have to survive in. Alone.

**Author's notes: This will be a short mini story I will write when I'm feeling the need to write when I have nothing else to write. This is just an opener, don't expect it to be long. Next chapter will be long. Tell me if you guys (or gals) are interested in this.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's notes: Well I took about a day to think over this story. Remember it is a short story, don't expect it to be long. Enjoy!**

"Indigo One do you copy?" A voice sounded over a radio.

"This is Indigo One, I copy." Another replied back over the comm.

"Azure Squad has gone dark after reporting the finding of a young hatchling. Would you go check out what the problem is?" The voice asked back over the radio.

"Right away Command." Indigo One replied.

"Faxing over location, good hunting boys." The radio said, then went static.

Indigo Squad was mainly sent on search and rescue missions and occasionally missions that involve checking up on other teams that don't check in. They consisted of four male members,

Farl was an Earth dragon with brown scales and a green underbelly. He had 4 horns on the top of his head that resembled branches. He had a spiked club tail blade and had green eyes.

Next was Thril, he was an Ice dragon that had dark blue scales and a white underbelly. He had two horns on the top of his head the stuck straight up. He had a curved blade for a tail blade and had grey eyes.

Raxus was a Electric dragon with orange scales and a yellow underbelly. He had 2 horns on the top of his head curving backwards, and two on the side of his head also curving backwards. His tail blade resembled a dual headed axe. His eyes were yellow, almost too bright to look at.

Then last was me, Valen. I was a dark crimson Fire dragon with a black underbelly. I have two horns on the top of my head that zigzag upwards and curve back a bit. And 2 small one jutting up on my chin. My tail blade had a spiked tip. My eyes were dark red.

"Alright boys, let's roll." Farl ordered as he walked out the door of the small outpost.

Farl was our squad commander, he was also know as Indigo One. Thril was Indigo Two, Raxus was Indigo Three, and I was Indigo Four.

"He forgot his pack..." Thril sighed as he put his own pack on his back and grabbed Farl's as well.

"It's alright, I mean he's only done it thirty other times." Raxus chuckled a bit as he walked past Thril to the door.

"What do you think is holding up Azure this time?" I asked as I walked over to Thril.

"I don't know. It's not like them to not pick up their radio." Thril replied, pondering the many possibilities.

"Do you think the Ravengers got them?" I asked. The Ravengers were the monsters that's destroyed this world. The survivors of their invasion fled to the final city that the Ravengers could not take. Time after time they tried to attack, but the strength of combined races brought unique stratigies that won the battles that were fought there. The population was around fourth-thousand, a very big city surrounded by massive stone walls which had many siege weapons on them. The city was once called Zarine, but the inhabitants have started to call it The Last Stronghold.

"No, I know some members of Azure Sqaud. No way they got killed by those monsters." Thril replied, almost all to quickly. Revealing to me that he has already prepared for the worst.

"Hey! We're leaving!" Farl's voice came from outside.

"Let's go." I said as I jogged out the door with Thril behind me.

"Are you girls done?" Farl asked in annoyance.

Thril just sighed and I hugged in slight anger.

"Come on! Let's go." Raxus said as he took flight and hovered above the ground for everyone else to join him.

Farl and Thril took flight and I after them. Together we flew towards the coordinates we were given from Conmand. Thril would occasionally check the GPS to see if we were on course.

"Nearing Azure Squad's last know coordinates." Thril announced.

"Good, I was getting bored." Farl commented.

"Hoping for a fight Sarge?" Raxus asked.

"You know it." Farl replied cockily.

"Let's just hope that Azure is still ok." I muttered.

"There." Thril said as he pointed to a clearing.

"Damn..." Farl growled.

"That's not right." Raxus said, disgusted at the sight below him.

Below them were the remains of Azure Squad, most of the body parts were strewn all over the place, blood was covering everything. What disgusted them the most was in the center of a circle of blood was the decapitated body of Azure Sqaud's Captain. His head was stuffed into his throat.

"This is disgusting." I said as I felt my stomach start to churn.

When we landed on the ground, Thril bent over and threw up the contents of his stomach all over the ground.

"Whoa! You ok?" Raxus asked as he slightly ran over to Thril and started to pat his back slighly.

"Yeah. I just... This is wrong." Thril replied as he whiped his face from any remain drops of his throw up.

"Fan out and search." Farl ordered forcefully.

"For what?! Survivors? Everyone is dead. You're just endangering us." I replied, almost appalled by my commanding officer's orders.

"Are you questioning my orders?" Farl growled angrily as he quickly made his way over to me and got all up close and personal.

"No sir. Sorry sir." I said timidly.

"That's what I thought." Farl huffed as he went around searching.

I just shook my head and went looking around the perimeter of the forest. While I was wandering the perimeter I thought a saw a hint of red inside of a bush. My first thought was Ravengers, but they weren't red so I passed off that thought.

_What do we have here? _I thought as I grabbed hold of the red object and pulled it out. What I saw shocked me, then I smiled. It was a red dragon.

**Author's notes: Well, that was nice. This will be a first person story unless I say otherwise. Umm I was going to say something, but I forgot... Anyways hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next time!**

**CEYA!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's notes: Another chapter of TLS! Whoa! I just realized its initials are pretty much TLoS. Haha. Ok so we will have two new guests on this chapter (Permanent) and their names are Lyra and Crow. I hope all of you know who they are and who their maker is. Crow the Dragon owns the two. Go check him out if you don't know him, his stories are good.**

It has been 15 years since I found that hatchling in that bush. It was a boy, newly born, and was a Fire dragon. Since I was the one that found the boy I was tasked with bringing him up. I treated him like my own flesh and blood, but of course I couldn't spend all my time with him. I was in the military, and I had a duty to do. When I would be away from him for weeks I would always be worried about his well being and every chance I got I would talk to him over the radio. I retired from the military when my young son turned 10. He said it was the best birthday present ever, and I couldn't agree more. His name is Vexx and is a very bright boy with a future ahead of him. Vexx had red scales and a brown underbelly, his eyes were also brown. He has two horns on the top of his head that resemble Spyro's and also has three small horns jutting out on each side of his lower jaw, they were brown. His tail blade was a spiked tip. I still remember a conversation we had when he turned 6.

"Hey dad?" My son asked.

"Yes Vexx?" I replied with a loving smile.

"When I get old enough I want to be in the military just like you." Vexx said as he looked at me with an energetic smile.

This gave me thoughts of pride and fear. I was proud of my son for wanting to follow in my footsteps, but I was also afraid of him being taken away from me by those… Things. "One day son, one day." I replied as I pulled him close to my chest in an embrace, which he gladly returned.

Life was simple after I retired, I got a job as a builder. I would repair broken buildings, and tear down old ones to put up new ones. While my son would go to school as a normal young dragon would do. He would get home a good 2 hours before me so he was usually gone with friends when I arrived at home. Sometimes he would be there waiting for me. Before bed we would both tell each other what we did that day, and this is what I believe gave us the strong bond that we had. Our house was relatively simple, when you would walk through the front door the first thing you would notice was the staircase leading upstairs, and an arch that would lead to other rooms. Upstairs there were two bedrooms, the one on the left was mine, and the one on the right was Vexx's, and a bathroom (Yes we have plumbing :P). On the main floor there was a the family room, which was the room on the farthest left, where most of the games and events would happen if friends came over. Then there was the kitchen on the farthest right, where food would be stored and cooked. Then in the middle was the dining room, but the dining room was special for one reason. There was a door on the back of the room that led outside to a balcony that overlooked most of the city and was directly above one of the few city gardens. This is where we would talk every night, watching the sunset.

And this brings us to the present day.

**_..._**

**P.O.V. Vexx.**

**_..._**

"Dad!" I yell upstairs, "Dad wake up!"

"Coming." I hear a muffled groan come from upstairs.

A minute later I see my dad groggily walking down the stairs, thumping as he did so. "Yes?" My dad asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"I was wondering if a friend and I could hang out later today." I asked, giving him a smile that was hard to say no to.

After he stopped rubbing his eyes he looked at me and saw my smile, he smiled back. "Sure, but you have to be back before sunset." My dad told me.

"Sweet! Thanks dad!" I yelled in joy as I hugged him quickly and ran into the kitchen and quickly started to eat my breakfast, which consisted of 2 bananas and 2 apples.

"Whoa! Slow down there kiddo. We don't need an emergency trip to the infirmary." My dad laughed as he looked at me devouring my food with indragon like speed (See what I did there?).

"Swary." I said with my mouth full as I smiled sheepishly.

My dad then grabbed dragon fruit and sat down on the opposite side of the table as me, slowly chewing his food as he watched me devour mine.

Once I finished I wiped the remnants of my breakfast off my face and started to walk to the front door. "Bye dad!" I yelled back to the dining room.

"Bye Vexx." My dad's voice came from the other room as I opened the front door.

I closed the door as I stepped outside and breathed in a giant breath of the morning air. I exhaled the air with a smile then set off to my friend's house, which happened to be three houses to the left of mine.

When I reached the door I quickly knocked on it three times and patiently waited for the door to open.

The door opened suddenly and my friend appeared in it. When he saw me he smiled.

"Hey Vexx." He said.

"Hey Trae." I said as I returned the smile.

Trae is an Ice dragon with navy blue scales and a white unserbelly. His eyes are light blue, and he has 3 horns on the top of his head. The one on the left curving left, the one on the right curving right and the one in the middle curving back, his horns are white. His tail blade is a trident. Trae and I have been friends birth. We were born on the same day, so is becoming friends wasn't a big surprise.

"What are we doing today." Trae asked as he shut his door as he walked outside.

"Let's check out the market and see if they have anything cool." I said.

"Sure." Trae agreed.

Then we made our way to the market. It wasn't too far away from us, only about a 6 minute walk from my house. After walking for about a minute we came across the arch representing that we have reached the end of the wealthier houses, and we're heading into the main city.

"Did you brings any gems?" I asked Trae.

Trae looked to his right flank where he usually has a gem bag and found none, "Nope. I guess we'll have to come back later if we want to buy something."

"That's fine." I said as I turned back to the arch and walked through it.

It wasn't long before we heard the loud noises of the market place, getting louder and louder with each passing step. When Treat and I arrived in the market we looked around at the first few visible shops. We saw jewery, food, toys, books, and even art being sold in the stalls. Many dragons, cheetahs, and moles were both selling and buying.

"Let's go find so go scout out some food stalls." I said to Trae, I took one step and walked right into someone.

"Crow are you ok?" I heard a female voice gasp.

I came back to my senses quickly and stood up and looked at who I ran into. It was a black dragon. He had black scales, with a blue underbelly, spines, tail blade, and eyes. I also noticed a blue crescent moon symbol on the shoulder of his right foreleg. His horns looked familiar... Ah! They were similar to the famous purple dragon Spyro's horns, which were also blue.

"You know **him**?" Trae asked, shock in his voice as he looked at the white dragoness that was with the black dragon.

I backed up quickly and stumbled a bit, this dragon didn't look friendly. From what his father told him he knew most black dragons couldn't be trusted.

"Watch where you're going." The black dragon said as he stood up, annoyance evident in his voice.

"Crow, don't be rude. It was your fault as much as his." The white dragoness said, a bit timid of the two dragons watching her.

"He should be more careful Lyra." Crow said.

The white dragoness known as Lyra had white scales with golden underbelly, spines, eyes, and horns. Her horns also looked like Spyro's.

I looked at Crow and saw that he was staring at me. I quickly looked at the ground and shuffled my feet nervously.

"Vexx, let's go." Trae whispered to Vexx.

Before Vexx could even reply Crow walked past him with Lyra quickly following.

"Who were they?" I asked Trae.

"I have no clue." Trae muttered back.

The rest of the day flew by very quickly. Trae and I had a good time, we hung out around the walls, talking with a few of the guards. A couple dragoness passed us a couple of times and talk to us for a bit. The conversations usually ended with Trae and I walking away, blushing like crazy from the antics of the females. Eventually the time came for me to go home. Trae and I walked back to our homes and said good night to each other.

"Vexx? Is that you?" My dad's voice came from inside the family room.

"Yes, it's me." I said as I walked into the family room.

"It's almost time for the sun to set." My dad said smiling.

"I had quite a day." I replied, laughing slightly as I recalled past events.

"Then let's take it outside." My dad said as he stood up and stretched his limbs.

We both walked out side and sat down watching the sun begin to set.

"Well Trae and I ran into two really odd dragons today." I started to say.

"Odd in what way?" My father asked.

"There was a white dragoness who was very shy and always stayed near her friend, who was a black dragon. Lyra and Crow if I remember correctly." I answered, having a little trouble remembering their names.

My dad made no reply, but I could see on his face the names sounded familiar.

Then I told him our conversations with the guards, and about the groups of dragoness, which he especially liked. He thought is was funny when I told him stories of dragonesses teasing me.

Then it was his turn. He told me what he saw at the markets and that he met up with some old friends and had a chat with them. Before we knew it the sun had set and we were surrounded in darkness.

"I can smell our dinner burning." My dad sighed as he got up and quickly made his way to our food.

I got up and walked to the kitchen, and was greeted by a welcoming sight. Roasted lamb, my favorite. _This was one good day._

**Author's notes: Now that you know what Vexx's normal schedule is, we can move on to the good parts! :) Hehehe. Also as we get further into the story Crow and Lyra will be regulars (by that I mean like two to three.) **

**Until next time!**

**CEYA!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's notes: I just need to write more of this story. Anyways there was a slight mix up with last chapter. I never had Crow say Lyra's name, but some how Vexx knew it... He's psychic haha. No, but anyways I fixed that all good now. Also I never said, but this takes place 20 years after Malefor's defeat. The Ravegers attacked 1 year after Malefor and it took 2 years for the world to go to hell. 2 years for The Last Stronghold to get its name, and the 15 years of Vexx's life. :). Also I am well aware that it is spelt Ravangers, not Ravengers. I thought of changing it around. Also 10 internet cookies if anyone can guess where I got the Ravangers from. Hint: it's a video game.**

"Vexx! Could you come here?" My dad's voice came from downstairs.

"In a minute!" I yelled back through a closed door. _Almost... Almost... Do-_ I watched in shock as it broke again. _Ancestors..._ I got up and put the metal contraption down on the desk I was working over. I found it a few weeks ago when my dad showed me the forest on the outside of the city. I've been trying to fix it, but have had no luck.

I walked downstairs and saw my dad wearing... His old armor? "Why do you have that on?"

My dad seemed to have this troubled expression in his face, "I'm going hunting with some friends. I'll be back by sunset, don't worry."

I could easily tell my dad was forcing a smile, but I played along for his sake. "Ok. Then you'll have lots to tell me about."

"Good bye." My dad said as he walked out the door, not even waiting for my reply.

I could tell he was very nervous and afraid of going back outside of the wall. He told me a few stories of his time in the military, and they were not pretty. I knew I would see him again though, he was tough and so were his friends.

_I guess I go to Trae's house. _I thought as I walked to the door and left my house. I'm not sure why, but today seemed darker than usual. _Maybe a storm will come soon._ I thought as I walked down the road to Trae's house.

"Hey you!" I heard a voice say from behind me.

I turned around and about 20 feet away were 4 dragons. Two were Earth and the other two were Fire dragons, who looked to be 3 to 4 years older than I. "Yes?"

"What's in the bag?" One of the Fire dragons asked.

I very well knew this could be a mugging situation, so I had to make this lie seem believable. "Paper."

One of the Earth dragons snickered, "Paper? That's the best you could do? Hand over the bag."

I started to panick a bit. This was my money, and I wasn't about to give it to thugs. "Make me." I growled.

"Surround him." The same Fire dragon from before said.

I looked to my right and saw I was right in front of Trae's house. I could make a break for it, but before I got the chance I was grabbed from behind.

"Got him!" I heard someone shout. Most likely one of the thugs.

I bucked violently, and in that buck my elbow collided with my captor's nose. He let go with a whine of pain, and I quickly bolted for the house. I thought I was going to make it when a crushing weight fell on top of me.

"Stop struggling, it's useless." The voice said venomously.

This only made me struggle more. Then I felt a blow to my head and stopped. I was still conscious, but the blow stunned me for enough time for the dragon on top of me to grab my bag and run.

I stood up in a hurry and bolted after them. It was my money, and I wasn't about to let thugs take it! It wasn't long before I started to grow tired, we just made it past the arch to the Market District and I knew I wasn't going to last long. To my shock, and displeasure I collapsed from exhaustion. I wasn't used to running for so long at such a fast pace. I thought about yelling after them, but I was too out of breath to even mumble a curse.

"Are you ok?" I heard a female voice say.

I didn't even bother looking, I just closed my eyes and punched the ground with my fist as hard as I could. That wasn't a good idea, for immediately afterwards I recoiled back in pain, a small yelp escaping my maw.

"Don't hurt yourself even more!" The same dragoness exclaimed.

"Leave *pant* me alone *pant*." I replied quietly.

"Not until you tell me what happened." The dragoness said forcefully.

I still didn't bother to look at her, but I did open my eyes. "Don't you have a boyfriend to screw." I said, thinking of the most hurtful thing to say to get here away from me.

My only response was a gasp of shock, "Wha? Why would you-"

"I'm sorry!" I quickly said, causing a cough to escape from me. "I didn't mean to say that... I just want to be left alone. I'm sorry."

The dragoness just stood there, I could feel her shadow blocking out the sun. Then I felt someone pick me and set me on my feet.

"Why don't we leave the street and talk elsewhere." She said.

Then I got a good look at her, she had black scales and a golden underbelly. Her horns resembled Cynder's but were golden. Her eyes her emerald green, and her tail blade that reminded me of a scythe.

I followed her, stumbling slightly. Once we got out of the road and into one of the less used roads she faced me. "Why were you on the ground?"

I decided that since I said what I said back there I would give her the truth. "I was robbed, and I tried to get my money back."

"How much did you lose?" She asked, seeming very curious.

"About fifty green gems... I was hoping to surprise my father when he got back from hunting outside the walls with a nice dinner." I replied quietly.

"Here's sixty." She said handing me a bag.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. "Sixty!? Nonono! This is your money! I can't take this!"

"No please do. You could put it to better use than I could." She replied, still holding out the bag with a smile.

"I can't. It's too much, I don't want to get you in trouble either. What would your parents say?" I said, trying to persuade her to not give me the bag.

"Do you know who my parents are?" She asked, giving me a surprised expression.

"No. Am I supposed to?" I replied, confused with the question.

She just laughed most likely thinking I was joking, but when she saw I wasn't laughing she stopped. "Do you even know who I am?"

"Some dragon that feels awfully generous today." I replied.

She just looked at me with a focused gaze, "My name is Volara, and I'm the daughter of Spyro and Cynder."

**Author's notes: Well, this was shorter than I hoped, but I wanted to end it here. So what do you think about Volara? Her name has a reason by the way, it'll be explained later. **

**Until next time!**

**CEYA!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's notes: …Well… I bet you all know about Residual Darkness' unfortunate ending… I'm happy River finished it, but the way she did just made me more sad and angry then if she would've discontinued it. So you know when you want to see a new movie, you usually look at a summary telling you the plot, beginning, end, and conflict. Then that just makes you want to see the movie ever more! So when Riverstyxx posted that chapter… It just made me want her to type it out for real even more… Anyways, enough with my rambling and onto the story all you lovely viewers came to see. ENJOY!**

I started at Volara, my face showing all signs of shock. "What?"

"I said I was the daughter of Spyro and Cynder." Volara replied with a smile, probably satisfied with the reaction I gave her.

"Thee Spyro and Cynder? The ones that saved the world?" I asked, jaw still open.

"Who else? The city pretty much gives us money for just being alive." Volara replied cockily as she dropped the bag at my feet.

I looked at the bag, then back at her, then at the bag again. I hesitantly grabbed it, "Thank you."

"It was nothing, plus I have plenty more. Do you mind me helping you? With shopping I mean. I know where to get the best deals in the city." Volara said.

"Yeah uh sure." I said, a bit nervous that a dragoness would be hanging around me for a while.

"Alright! Then follow me." Volara replied, an energetic smile on her face.

Vexx followed Volara through the market, their time together was mostly them getting to know each other. After around an hour of shopping, I had what I needed to make my dad his special dinner for tonight.

"That was fun. Wait, I never got your name." Volara said as we walked down a semi cramped roadway.

"Its Vexx." I replied casually.

"Well, Vexx, what are we going to do now? We have all your food."

"I need to drop this off at the house, then after that. I dunno, have any ideas?" I asked as we started to leave the market area.

"Already taking me home eh?" Volara joked with a grin on her face.

"Hehehe you wish." I replied, a massive blush on my face. "But seriously, any ideas?"

"No, nothing yet. Maybe I'll think of something." Volara said thoughtfully.

I made no reply as we crossed into the district I live in. "Almost to my place."

"So you're middle class." Volara said.

"Yeah, thinking I was poor?" I replied.

"No. Just wanted to make sure." Volara replied as she looked at her surroundings with curiosity.

"Haven't you even been here before?" I chuckled as I saw her looking at everything with interest.

"Actually, I haven't." Volara replied, somewhat embarrassed.

I looked at her with curiosity and disbelief. "You, daughter of Spyro and Cynder, pretty much rules the city, hasn't been to this part of the city."

"I'm not allowed outside of the compound much." Volara admits, looking the other way.

"Why not?" I asked.

"My parents think that something would happen to me. They train me, but still don't trust me to be alone."

"Then what do you call this?" I ask, gesturing to everything. "I'm the only one with you."

"I sneaked out." Volara muttered.

"Oh, someone's a rebel." I said, humor lacing my voice. Before she could reply I cut her off. "And we're home!"

She just looked at me as I walked up to the door. "Aren't you coming?" I asked as I opened the door and gestured for her to go inside.

"Oh uh, yeah sure." Volara replied, surprised by the fact that I was inviting her into my house.

When we were both inside my house I brought her to the kitchen where I put the respected items to where they belonged. Once that was over with I sat down on the opposite side of the table she was sitting on.

"Soooooo, any reason why you invited me in here?" Volara asked awkwardly.

"Just wanted to sit down and talk for a while. Is that ok?" I asked her.

"Oh yeah, its fine." She replied.

"I have a question, I've asked my dad, but he said I wasn't ready." I said with a dejected sigh.

"What's the question?" Volara asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"What do the Ravangers look like?" I asked, hopeful for an answer.

Volara just looked at me and shook her head, "I wouldn't be able to tell you, my parents never told me either."

"Oh." I said. I looked at the ground with a sinking feeling in my chest.

"Why do you want to know?" Volara asked me.

I didn't look from the ground when I answered, "My dad only told me they were monsters you would expect to find in myth and legend. He never told me that he had ever killed one… I'm afraid that he won't come back." I admitted, my fear of my father dying had always been there, but when I was younger I didn't know how much danger he was in.

"Oh. I'm sorry that I can't be of much help." Volara said, slightly disappointed with herself for not asking her parents what these creatures were.

"It's ok." I said as I looked back up and gave her a small smile. "What parts of the city have you not been to yet?"

"Uhhh pretty much all of them besides the market area. As I said before, don't get out much." Volara replied.

"How about I show you around the city." I offered.

"Really? A tour? Thanks." Volara said, happy that she would finally get to see the city and all its glory in person and not from what she is told.

Before I could say, or do anything there was a knock at the door. "Vexx you in there?" A voice shouted from outside.

"Trae." I said.

"Who?" Volara asked.

"A friend." I answered as I got up and walked to the door, Volara behind me.

"Hey Vex- whoa." Trae said as he noticed Volara.

"What?" I asked, giving Trae a puzzled look.

"You got Spyro and Cynder's daughter in your house!?" Trae exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah... It's not that big of a deal..." I mumbled.

"Do you know how little she is exposed to the public eye! And what about that guard that is always with her?" Trae said as he looked around the inside of the house.

"I sneaked away." Volara said from behind me.

"Really? Oh! I'm Trae, nice to meet you." Trae said as he pushed past me and walked up to Volara, he extended his paw.

"Volara." Volara replied to Trae, slapping the pads of their paws together.

I whispered into Trae's ear, "Weren't you raised to hate black dragons?"

"Not all black dragons, Cynder and her daughter are the only two trustworthy blacks around." Trae whispered back as he turned to face me.

"So what are we going to do?" I asked.

"Well we have classes tomorrow, and its about midday so we have a couple of hours left… I dunno." Trae replied with a shrug.

I gave him a flat stare, "Thanks…"

"Weren't you going to give me a tour?" Volara asked.

"Oh yeah!" I said with an embarrassed grin.

"Yeah, now lets go." Volara said as she walked out the door.

Trae and I both stared at her as she walked past, "Whoa." We both said at the same time.

I looked at Trae to see him looking at me. We both gave each other death stares for what seemed like minutes, but was only a few seconds.

"You two coming?" Volara asked.

Both Trae and I snapped out of our trances and walked out to Volara, but not before casting each other another glance.

It took the rest of the day quickly skim half of the city, Volara left to go home and so did Trae. I made my way back to the house and started to make the dinner. Every now and then I would glance outside to see how close the sun was to setting.

The soup was done and I set two plates at each side of the table. I sat in my seat and waited, and waited, and waited. I looked outside and saw that the sun was halfway down. I started to grow worried, _What if he doesn't come back? Is he ok? He said he would be back by sunset, I still have a few minutes. _In my nervousness I managed to eat all my soup, I also walked outside and sat down on the balcony. I stared at the sun, it dropped lower and lower. I looked around, and still my dad was no where to be seen. My mind wanted me to panic, but I stayed calm by telling myself I still have time. I looked at the sun as the last of it dipped behind the horizon. _Maybe he was held up. We have never missed the sunset talk before. He wouldn't miss it unless something really bad happened… _

It was now an hour after sunset, Vexx had lost all hope of his father returning that night. _Something must have happened…_ He went back into the house, and went into his room. He collapsed on his bed and curled up into a ball. His father couldn't be dead, could he?

"It was a simple hunting trip, no way it would go overnight…" Vexx muttered sorrowfully.

Vexx didn't want to admit it, but deep down inside of him he knew his father was dead. So he

cried.

**Author's notes: This chapter was solely commentary… Boring commentary… Anyways, poor me! I lost my dad! Dumb Ravagers… The way I'm going to write the next chapter will be interesting to say the least. School will be an interesting write, especially since I'm going to be coping my own classes and lesson plans. **

**Until next time! **

**CEYA! **


End file.
